Socio-Economics History Blog

Socio-Economics History Blog

Violent ‘Color Revolution’ In Hong Kong Fails Despite Strong NYT Support

by mosesman
US foreign service agent Julie Eadeh meeting with Hong Kong protest leaders at the JW Marriott Hotel in the Admiralty area of Hong Kong.
  • Violent ‘Color Revolution’ In Hong Kong Fails Despite Strong NYT Support
    by https://www.moonofalabama.org/, 31 July 2019
    When the U.S. instigates its so called ‘color revolutions’, the transatlantic main stream media are usually supportive. But the support is rarely as extreme as the extraordinary one the New York Times gives to the rioters in Hong Kong. For the timeline we check with Wikipedia on the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests:
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    Demonstrations against the bill first occurred in March and April, but greatly expanded in scale and intensity beginning in June. At least 240,000 people (up to one million according to organisers) marched in protest of the bill on 9 June.
    …
    Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended the extradition bill on 15 June and further declared it to be “dead” on 9 July.
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    Shortly before the first large demonstrations against a proposed amendment to an exiting extradition bill, the New York Times gave space to one (in)famous ‘political activist’ from Hong Kong. On June 4 one Ray Wong Toi-yeung wrote on the Times opinion pages:
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    When the tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 4, 1989, many Hong Kongers watched in horror on their TVs. A few days before, one million of them had marched in solidarity with the rebellious Chinese gathered in the square to ask for more liberalism and democracy from the Chinese authorities. Thirty years on, it is Hong Kong that is fighting for democratic values — for its very political survival, actually — against another onslaught by the same Communist government in Beijing.
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    Wong, who now lives in Germany, was a leader of the 2014 Umbrella movement, also known as the (NED Financed) Hong Kong Riots. He was since with several other anti-mainland organizations in Hong Kong. In 2016 he was seen in secret meetings with U.S. consulate staff.
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    Other Hong Kong protest organizers and supporters were given op-ed space in the Times on June 10, June 15, June 17 and June 28. Supportive editorials were published on June 10, June 13 and June 17. On June 30 an op-ed by one Fred Chan Ho-fai (later updated) attempted to justify the rioters violence:
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    An important idea that has been circulating in online forums is now firmly planted in my mind. It is called the Marginal Violence Theory (暴力邊緣論), and it holds that protesters should not actively use or advocate violence, but instead use the most aggressive nonviolent actions possible to push the police and the government to their limits.
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    This is what some protesters have been doing today, July 1, on the anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China from Britain in 1997. After a ceremony marking the anniversary, a group of protesters have stormed the Legislative Council’s building. Though they have damaged property, they are not seeking to harm anyone.
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    Such actions are a way to make noise and gain attention. And if they prompt the police to respond with unnecessary force, as happened on June 12, then the public will feel disapproval and disgust for the authorities. The protesters should thoughtfully escalate nonviolence, maybe even resort to mild force, to push the government to the edge. That was the goal of many people who surrounded and barricaded police headquarters for hours on June 21.
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    Provoking violent police reactions is the declared aim of the rioters.
    More Hong Kong op-eds in the NYT followed on July 1, July 2 and July 3. A fourth supporting editorial was published on July 4. More op-eds followed on July 5, July 8 and July 12.
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    After an extraordinary run of 16 opinion pieces on the issue in just 38 days, the NYT opinion pages went suddenly quiet on Hong Kong. Who told the editors to stop? Anyway, it does not mean the New York Times stopped supporting the anti-government riots. Witness today’s news piece that is not only slanted against Hong Kong’s government and police, but is also clearly lying:
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    read more.

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